We are sitting here waiting to leave Santorini where it was a beautiful day. Not too many ships, although one was a Costa ship which always means a lot of "pushy" people...my opinion. But they left about 1:30pm which left Thira much less crowded.

Yesterday in Rhodes was a bright, sunny day and we spent most of it walking around the old city. Saw the Grand Masters Palace and the Museum. I thought the building of the Museum was more interesting than the contents!

Seven Seas Society party was last night and it wasn't very much. Just a thank you from the Captain and Cruise Director and a song from one of the piano players from the Horizon Lounge. But it is a nice way to see if you can find any familiar faces.

Tomorrow is Navpilion and then into Athens. I think we will take a "sea day" on Saturday while everyone else gets off and on. These Mediterranean trips just don't have enough sea days!

Jan

Thanks for checking in Jan...keep the Voyager on course for the rest of us and make sure there is plenty of bubbly!

Jan,

Hope you are feeling as good as new. Oh, to be in Thira...Love Santorini.

I am sure the SSS party for our segments will be well attended - at least you will see a few "familar" faces when we LCT'ers get onboard.

Hi Jan and Fred!

Glad to hear you're having a good time. Looking forward to hearing all about the trip upon you return. Happy and safe travels!

Andrea & Leonard

Sounds like you are having a lovely time!

Let us know how you like Nafplion. It's a favourite of mine.

Hi Jan and Fred,

Glad that you are enjoying Voyager.

I see from your list of cruises you were on Navigator on the Iceland/ Norway fjords in 2005? I don't think we met then, looking forward to meet you on CROSS.

Enjoy your self-imposed sea day, Jan. You've been going since Monday. You need your rest to go next week. Looks like you have a few sea days next week, then Venice!!! Hope that cold has cleared up for good.

Just remember that your sea day will have the ship on limited activity since the crew is busy with the change over of new passengers. I don't think the spa is even open...

So yeah, just sleep in, have room service breakfast, hang around in the cabin, sitting out on the balcony reading and relaxing. Maybe later check out Piraeus (?), sit in a little cafe and enjoy a late lunch, little wine. Hmmm - works for me Jan and Fred, have a great day!!!

Hope you somehow meet up with my clients I mentioned to you earlier this week Jan, really neat couple. Let me know if you do.

Good hearing from you, Jan and Fred. We loved Santorini; specifically Oia - so lovely! We also liked Nafplion and hope you will, as well.

You'll have 8 sea days to savor and enjoy on CROSS!

JoAnn you just described a perfect day for us. Jan and Fred enjoy!!!!

LOL Joanna - us too!!!

Another lovely day on this cruise. I’ve been staying away from the computer and just enjoying the cruise. Have yet to actually meet Jan but we’ve managed to locate each others rooms – perhaps tonight at the cocktail party for gold and platinum members?

Ephesus was wonderful We took a tour from the ship called “Ephesus with an Expert” The expert was an archeologist who had worked on the site for 40 years and quite proudly showed us some of “his” discoveries complete with the stories behind the work. We found mosaic tiles and ceramic tiles (one with the footprint of a dog) just lying around. He had excavated two of the mosaics in the terrace houses and so we got to spend a lot of time inside the houses looking at the mosaics and the frescoes. The only slight issue with the day was that there were literally thousands of people there and it felt more like opening day at Fenway rather than some ancient archeological site. A true international cast of visitors – Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Turks and of course Americans and Canadians.

We went back at night for the concert – a memorable evening. It was held in the Odeon and almost half the ship joined in this excursion. There was a lovely breeze and the chamber ensemble played for about 75 minutes. There was music from Vivaldi, Bach, Faure, Dvorak, Brahms, Boccherini and Mozart. They played Eine Kleine Nachtmusik which was the first piece of music my father taught me – I could almost hear him humming along. He would have just loved this whole experience.

The next day we were in Rhodes – along with about ten other cruise ships and many thousands of people. We went to Lindos – there was actually a human traffic jam climbing up to the top which made it much easier to do the climb as you only move about 2 feet per minute. We wandered around the old town on our own but thought we would see more at the visit next week. We received a note today from the Captain saying they had switched our schedule for next week’s visit with our Kos/Bodrum stop so that we would be the only ship in Rhodes. The Seven Seas Society party was Wednesday night and we had a pleasant dinner with Engelbert the hotel director, Kadri (one of the housekeeping officers) and three other couples. They had a dance party in the atrium after the show which was fun.

Yesterday was Santorini. We took the cable car up to Thira and then went to the cathedral to see the murals and visited the museum to see frescoes from Akrotiri. We hired a taxi to Oia and just wandered around taking pictures and visiting the galleries and shops. We found our way to a hidden restaurant with a terrace perched on the edge overlooking the entrance to the Caldera and drank some surprisingly good local Santorini white wine with lunch. We agreed we should come back just to stay in Santorini for a week.

Today was Nafplion and once again we went out on our own. We took a taxi up to the Palamidi fortress – great views – Jim had the bright idea to walk down all 900 something steps to get back to town. Let’s just say it was one of those occasions when a small marital dispute is inevitable (I’ve had multiple knee surgeries on both knees including one ACL repair on each knee). Lunch (with wine) in town restored harmony and an hour of rest with ice on both knees (Darren the butler found plastic bags and lots of ice) has returned the pain level to tolerable. I might not be able to do a lot of dancing tonight though…..

Tomorrow we are going to take the subway into Athens and go exploring on our own. The internet is still too slow to attempt picture posting. I’ve resized some of the better pictures to low resolution and small file size and tried to upload to picasa, smugmug and photobucket and all three time out before I manage to upload anything. I will try tomorrow before we head into Athens – hopefully not too many people will be on the internet and there will be enough bandwidth.

Off to finish getting ready for tonight – the cocktail party and then dinner at Signatures.

Mary Ellen

M'ellen,
Thanks for your great report. Sounds wonderful!

900 something steps.....whew!!!!!

Keep having fun! We love your SeaMail!

M'ellen and I finally met last night at the Gold, Platinum party. We are going to have dinner tonight.

We wandered around Navplion on our own yesterday. It is quite different from the Greek Islands with a heavy Italian influence. Lots of wonderful side walk cafes and little shops. Only one of the Seabourne ships and the Voyager were in town so it was peacefully uncrowded. We were glad when we got the letter M'Ellen described above switching our days in Rhodes. It was so crowded when we were there this week it will be very nice to see it when it is not totally packed.

We didn't go to the concert at Ephesus last week but are going this week. We want to see the ruins lighted at night as well as enjoy the music.

The SPA is closed today but like JoAnn says...just enjoying the sunny Greek sky and resting up for the next segment is a great part of the cruise.

Jan

M'ellen and I finally met last night at the Gold, Platinum party. We are going to have dinner tonight.

We wandered around Navplion on our own yesterday. It is quite different from the Greek Islands with a heavy Italian influence. Lots of wonderful side walk cafes and little shops. Only one of the Seabourne ships and the Voyager were in town so it was peacefully uncrowded. We were glad when we got the letter M'Ellen described above switching our days in Rhodes. It was so crowded when we were there this week it will be very nice to see it when it is not totally packed.

We didn't go to the concert at Ephesus last week but are going this week. We want to see the ruins lighted at night as well as enjoy the music.

The SPA is closed today but like JoAnn says...just enjoying the sunny Greek sky and resting up for the next segment is a great part of the cruise.

Jan

Jan and Mary Ellen - thanks for sharing your wonderful cruise adventures. We are enjoying every minute. The concert at Ephesus sounds magical.

900 steps? Uh .. perhaps one of those things that is better to think about than to act upon. <img border="0" alt="[c]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

Looking forward to hearing more adventures.

Cheers, Anne

I have enjoyed reading your reports Jan and Mary Ellen - appreciate you both taking the time to post - keep having a wonderful trip - Joanna

Thanks everyone for your comments.

As Jan mentioned above we finally found each other at the party last night. We had dinner in Signatures - wonderful as always. I just love that mushroom soup followed by the lamb and then chocolate tart.

Today we headed into Athens on our own - it was kind of fun to just stroll down the gangway knowing we got to come back for another week. I like this back – to – back cruising concept. It's very easy to take the train into Athens - only 0.70 euros and the metro station is about a 15 minute walk from the ship. You only need one connection to the Acropolis stop and it’s pretty easy to figure out. We spent most of the day wandering at the Acropolis – it is another beautiful sunny day here but fortunately a little cooler than last week. The usual horde of international tourists were roaming around once we reached the site. Some additional people were there because they are filming a movie starring Nia Vardelos (from my Big, Fat Greek Wedding). I walked right past her intent on photographing some ancient marble things but Jim actually recognized her – she’s kind of tiny in person and very pretty. Today’s movie making seemed to consist of a great deal of standing around being gawked at by all the tourists. Tom Hanks was directing but we did not get close enough to see him.

We walked down to the Ancient Agora and then up to the temple that overlooks the site. Then we wandered out into a very nice neighborhood with killer views of the Parthenon for lunch. In an unusual turn of events we found the closest metro stop with only one small wrong turn and returned to Piraeus. It was easier to find the ship than locating the train station as you could see the Voyager gleaming white across the port.

The ever helpful Darren has delivered the evening canapés along with a fresh supply of limes for the G&Ts and the new passengers are having their lifeboat drill. Tomorrow we are back at Ephesus – we were so fascinated last week that we are going back tomorrow. Clearly you could spend days there and just begin to really learn about it.

Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen, Sounds like a glorious cruise so far. Your slow paced day in Athens sounds great. What fun to see a movie in the making. Maybe you will be an extra! Not the best way to see the Acropolis, but there are always crowds there. Looking forward to hearing more of your reports. Continue to enjoy the sunny Greek isles.

edited to add: Just found on imdb that the movie is called My Life In Ruins. Nia Vardalos plays a tour guide in this comedy set amongst the Grecian ruins.

Wow Mary Ellen , your description has made me want to go to the Greek islands. I never before had the urge, but now I do. And Ephesus sounds wonderful as well!

Thank you very much for that report. If you get to post pictures that would be icing on the cake!

Keep enjoying your cruise!

Maria, The Greek Islands are a wonderful part of the world. You may want to put them on your travel list.

Thanks Mary Ellen for the reports!!

María, The Greeks isles is one cruise that we would LOVE to repeat! It is my favorite area on Earth :)

Yep, I vote for another Greek Islands Cruise sometime in the future. Very special.

Love your reports, Mary Ellen and Jan. Ephesus was a highlight of our O cruise as was Ancient Lindos and Santorini. Actually, there isn't one port I wouldn't want to return to...it's a perfect itinerary.

This is a much better time of year to visit the Isles. This past summer was sweltering.... too, too hot. :eek: The temps are looking more comfortable now that fall is here.

Beth, when we were in Santorini and Ephesus, we had record high temperatures. It was 115 the day we were in Santorini...It didn't stop us one bit but if I can pick about 78 degrees would have been ideal for me.

I agree, Kathy, the 70s are much more ideal. The first time we were in Greece the temps were in the low 80s. Those 100s of this past summer were unbelievable. During our 3 days in Athens, we went out in the mornings and rested in the afternoons.

Thanks Jan and MaryEllen for your wonderful descriptions of your ports. Enjoyed reading them, please keep posting.

Counting the days now Jan until we join you onboard.

Lovely to hear your reports Jan and Mary Ellen. Do say hello to Englebert for me Mary Ellen. He has been very good to B&K on our group cruises. Super nice man.

Loved reading the reports!! Keep 'em coming....and keep having a great time!

Love the reports! Keep them coming, Jan and Mary Ellen!

Masaki

Mary Ellen reported to us yesterday about film crews at the Acropolis. The news reported at 6:55PM on the Excite News website. We heard it first here at LCT. :lct: Great job of getting the news to us first, Mary Ellen!!

Another beautiful day - we are in Kusadasi today. We went to Ephesus again today - there just wasn't enough time last week to see all the things we wanted to see. We had a chance to spend a bit more time in the terrace houses. We took the ships tour and once again there were only 14 people and we had an excellent guide named Levant. He had lived in the states for 6 years and obviously enjoyed being a guide. Fortunately it was not nearly so hot as last week, nor as crowded. Clouds are coming in now and it looks as if it may rain this afternoon – I hope not for the sake of the folks going to the concert at Ephesus tonight.

I finally have had to break down and do laundry today. The laundry rooms on Voyager are not as nice as the ones on Mariner – no seating area, no flat panel tv, and no mighty Rowenta irons. Another dose of reality was the appearance of the disembarkation form with this mornings paper and invitations. I have decided not to even think about having to leave.

The internet speed seems ok so I will try once again to post some pics.



On the Bosphorus cruising past Dolmabahce Palace



The Egyptian Obelisk at the Hippodrome. Built in 1500BC!!!! It was brought to Istanbul by Constantine around 330AD - every emperor needs trophies from his foreign lands.



The Blue Mosque



The ceiling of the Blue Mosque – so called because of the predominantly blue color of the tiles. The photos don’t even begin to capture this place – I was standing where a number of the different domes intersect and shooting straight up – no flash.



The Blue Mosque from the promenade connecting to the Hagia Sophia – you can get a feeling for how big it is and also of the overlapping domes that make up the roof.

More pictures

From our day in Mykonos
The windmills


Random pretty street photos






Moving on to Rhodes
The view from the Acropolis at Lindos


A local goat having a little pre-lunch snack

Wonderful pix, Mary Ellen. Thank you! Any chance if you click your ruby sleepers three times, the disembarkation form will disappear?

Sad news: no more mighty Rowentas on the Mariner. They have Te-Fal (? sp) irons which are activated using timer wheels. They did a good job as well, but lack the cachet of the mighty Rowenta.

Cheers, Anne

Great photos, you really are having wonderful weather! I can't believe your disembarkation forms arrived already :(

What lovely pics! Thanks much!!! :app:

Thank you so much for sharing your outstanding cruise...and the gorgeous pics...with all of us!!

Great pics, Mary Ellen! The Blue Mosque looks gorgeous!

Masaki

Mary Ellen, I can't believe your cruise is almost over. I've enjoyed reading about your trip. Photos are great!